KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 -- The National Football Development Programme (NFDP), which prior to this, was focused on turning out talents amongst males, will be expanded to also unearth gifted women’s footballers 

At the tabling of the Budget 2020 yesterday, Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng announced an allocation of RM45 million, namely, a three-fold increase for NFDP compared to RM15 million last year.

Minister of Youth and Sports (MOYS) Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said a special NFDP workshop would also be held on Oct 21 to discuss subsequent plans for the programme.

He said the workshop would also discuss on a plan to expand training academies like the Mokhtar Dahari Academy (MDA) to Sabah and Sarawak other than drafting a programme to turn out women football players.

Other than the development of women footballers, Syed Saddiq said emphasis would also be given to the grassroot search and development of women athletes in other sports such as rugby, futsal and other games dominated by men.

He said the sports development programme for women at the grassroot level was among the basis for MOYS to seek an additional allocation from Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Minister of Finance, and the ministry would ensure the programme could be implemented.

He said Malaysia was not short of potential and talent among women athletes but must be given special attention starting from the school level.

At the tabling of the Budget 2020, RM10 million was allocated for the development of women’s athletes in the government’s effort to empower women in sports.

Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq also appealed to the corporate sector to come forward and assist national motoring sports icon, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah to continue his participation in Moto2, next season.

He said MOYS had channeled funds to Hafizh through the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) but it was inadequate to meet the needs of the racer especially in his preparation to face the new 2020 season.

“MOYS and SIC had a discussion and we will indeed cover quite a large allocation for his participation but it is still not enough. It cannot only be the government, the corporate sector must also help.

‘’I also have meet Petronas many times, they had given their opinion, I still must respect Petronas as our biggest sponsor in motorsport.

‘’Except now I am seeking the best way to build a strong bridge between Petronas and Hafizh. We know what happened in the past but we need to move forward,” he said.

-- BERNAMA